...of the Moon & June cake (see here). This year we waited until the last day of the month. In a break with tradition I made the icing instead of using a store-bought tub, and it was really good. It was a cream cheese frosting, and I flavored half of it with crushed freeze-dried strawberries in honor of the Strawberry Moon.
6/29: paddling over
...to talk with my neighbors who were on a pontoon boat on the lake while I was kayaking near sunset. If I hadn't extended my time on the water in order to chat with them for a bit I wouldn't have seen this quick burst of pink.
6/28: being in a little touch
...with two friends from my high-school days and remembering (and appreciating!) how kind they both are.
6/27: being out
...on the lake this evening. Last summer I didn't kayak much because my wrist hurt, and this summer the same thing is happening. But I'm grateful that I made it out today.
6/26: completing
...the 2021 Poetry Half-Marathon: 12 poems in 12 hours. I did 12 erasures from Lang's Grey Fairy Book, all starting with the word she.
6/24: mopping
...some of our hardwood floors with an almond-smelling cleaner.
And remembering in the evening that I had heard a whippoorwill early in the morning.
6/23: coinciding
...with Chris in our separate listenings to Anna Karenina. Today we were both in the same place in our audiobooks, and it was fun to talk about the novel so far (we're just over halfway).
6/21: trio
In the morning: white herons flying past our house.
In the afternoon: erasing/remixing a passage from Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy.
In the evening: seeing the coreopsis tinctoria along the roadside as I walked. I've been walking at the indoor track recently because of the heat, but tonight it was cool enough to walk my usual outside route--and it was a surprise to see this new wave of blossoms that had emerged during my absence.
6/20: ravel
The word unravel is in pretty regular use. Today I looked up ravel and found that while it can mean the opposite of unravel, it can also mean the same thing as unravel. I have to think more about tangling and and untangling being kind of the same thing.
6/18: doing
...an erasure and remix of a passage from the Odyssey. It had been awhile, and it felt good.
Also doing a bunch of the NYT "mini" crosswords from the archive. These are new to me, and they made me smile.
6/17: making myself talk
...during a Zoom discussion. I tend to be more of a listener than talker during virtual conversations (I get super nervous), but the group today was smaller than expected, and I felt like I wanted to do my part to put thoughts in the air.
6/16: separately / together
Soon after I started listening to the audiobook of Anna Karenina, Chris decides to start listening to it himself. We're not quite synched up--we chose recordings by different readers and each listen according to our own schedules--but it's nice to be able to touch base about some things as we go.
6/15: reading about
...Sappho, Penelope, Atalanta, and time, and having my own thoughts about Sappho, Penelope, Atalanta, and time.
6/13: a friend
...who passed away this week. His passing away was not at all a good thing, but I today I've been especially thinking about how wonderful he was, so I'd like to try to celebrate his wonderfulness instead. He was so supportive of everyone he seemed to come across and made me feel like I was splendid just the way I am--and I know he made lots of other people feel the same way too. He is a glittering spirit, and I'm very grateful for him and all he brought to this world.
6/11: returning
...to the city's indoor walking track. It had been 15 months since I'd been there! I'm glad that infection rates are low enough that I'm able to go into public spaces like this again; it's starting to get too hot for it to be pleasant to walk outside.
6/10: getting a call
...from Chris this evening. He was sitting on the porch with the cats and wanted to let me know that I should come out to look at the sky. So I did.
6/9: eggless hollandaise sauce
We're vegetarian rather than vegan, but I'm trying to use eggs less. For dinner I made a hollandaise sauce with no eggs (recipe here), and it worked so well!
6/7: finding
...a format for a pamphlet that I've been experimenting with for years. It uses words from Elizabeth Barrett Browning's sonnet "The Soul's Expression," which I love, and each arrangement I tried seemed not to honor the EBB's words enough. Finally I think I've devised something that does.
6/6: playing a new game
...with Chris: Qwixx. I bought it last week when I saw it on sale at the grocery store, and Chris suggested we try it out this evening because I was in a bit of a funk. It was a good distraction and fun in its own right too.
6/5: the annual washing
...of the kayaks with the power-hose. It's not a tool I use often, but it is so helpful for this--and since my wrist is tender these days, I especially appreciate the minimal impact with maximal effect.
6/3: reading
...Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky. I wasn't feeling well today (soreness and grogginess from a not-good night's sleep), so I decided to shift my plan for the day to novel-reading. Gracefully Grayson uses the myth of Persephone in an interesting way, so reading it counts as "work," but there was also a pleasure in slipping into its world and spending much of the day in it.
6/2: sipping
...some "barreled Manhattan"--the vermouth reminded me of Los Angeles afternoons decades ago.
6/1: many
...good things!
I walked this morning and listened to Maggie Gyllenhaal's reading of Anna Karenina.
I posted my essay about My Name is Mina.
I wrote review/recommendation paragraphs for three children's books that use Classical myth.
I made a curry corn salad.
I talked with a friend on the phone.